Adolescent Risky Behavior Research Articles

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Role of HIV/AIDS Knowledge in Risky Sexual Behaviors of Adolescents in Nigeria

Background: Globally, an estimated 4 million of the 35 million people living with HIV are between the ages of 15 and 24. Nigeria has the second largest burden of HIV worldwide with an estimated 3.2 million individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The prevalence of HIV among adolescents in Nigeria is 3.5%, which is the highest among countries in West and Central Africa. Although insufficient or a complete lack of knowledge about HIV has been identified as a major barrier to HIV prevention efforts, no study has been conducted to evaluate HIV knowledge, identify deficiencies in knowledge, or examine the relationship between HIV knowledge and risky sexual behaviors (RSB) among adolescents in senior secondary school (high school) in Nigeria. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate HIV knowledge, identify deficiencies in knowledge, and examine the relationship between HIV knowledge and RSB among adolescents in senior secondary schools (high schools) in Nigeria. Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a stratified random sample of 361 adolescents from nine senior secondary schools (SS) in Jos Plateau state Nigeria. We used the HIV-KQ-18 survey questionnaire to assess HIV related knowledge and RSB was assessed using the Brief HIV Screener (BHS) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation and multiple linear regression were performed using the SPSS 21. Significance for the statistical test was set at P < 0.05. Results: Overall, 361 participants completed the survey. Forty-seven percent were males and 53% were females with a mean age of 16.9. HIV knowledge (t = -3.3, P < 0.01), age (t = 3.4, P < 0.01) and gender (t = -2.3, P < 0.01) were identified as significant predictors of RSB with female participants having lower RSB scores. An inverse relationship was identified between HIV knowledge and RSB, while a positive relationship existed between RSB and age. Deficiencies in HIV knowledge and misconception about HIV transmission were identified. Conclusions: Adolescents in this study with higher HIV knowledge had low RSB, indicating the importance of including interventions to increase HIV knowledge in HIV prevention programs. Misconceptions about casual means of HIV transmission need to be clarified, and culturally stigmatizing myths about HIV transmission need to be debunked among adolescents in Nigeria.

Differences in Risky Sexual Behavior According to Sexual Orientation in Korean Adolescents

ABSTRACTAdolescents in sexual minority groups are known to be at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases through risky sexual behavior. However, few studies have examined associations between sexual orientation and risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases in Korean adolescents. Therefore, this cross-sectional study used raw data from the Tenth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey to explore these relationships. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between risky sexual behavior and sexual orientation in adolescents. The participants were 6,884 adolescents who provided data regarding demographic characteristics, sexual orientation, and risky sexual behavior. The proportions of homosexual and bisexual subjects who used condoms, engaged in sexual intercourse after drinking alcohol, and experienced sexually transmitted diseases were higher relative to those of heterosexual subjects. Associations between homosexuality and bisexuality and sexually transmitted diseases and engagement in sexual intercourse after drinking remained after multivariate adjustment. Interventions to prevent risky sexual behavior should target sexual orientation, to improve sexual health and prevent sexually transmitted disease in homosexual and bisexual adolescents.

Parent-Child Attunement Moderates the Prospective Link between Parental Overcontrol and Adolescent Adjustment.

Parental overcontrol (OC), behavior that intrusively or dominantly restricts child autonomy, has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for youth. However, it is as yet unknown whether the association between parental OC and child maladjustment remains even when OC is exerted infrequently or by attuned parents. Rather, the selective use of OC might steer children away from danger. Taking a developmental psychopathology approach, this study focuses on the larger parent-child relationship context, testing whether either the dose at which parents demonstrate OC or the degree to which children perceive their parents as attuned determines whether OC is risky or protective for adolescents' adjustment. Among a community sample of 114 families of children followed from the ages of 12-18, we examine whether OC, behaviorally coded from triadic mother-father-child discussions in middle childhood, is associated with later risky behavior and anxiety symptoms in adolescence. Overcontrol exerted by either mothers or fathers had a curvilinear effect on adolescent risky behaviors, and this effect was moderated by children's perceived attunement. Although OC generally was associated with increased risky behaviors, low doses of OC or OC exerted by highly attuned parents protected against engagement in risky behaviors. No main effect of OC was observed on adolescent anxiety; however, mothers' OC interacted with perceived parental attunement, such that OC exerted by less attuned parents predicted greater anxiety. Results underscore that the effect of parenting behaviors depends on the larger parent-child relationship context.

Identity, relationships, sexuality, and risky behaviors of adolescents in the context of social media

ABSTRACTThe use of social networking services (SNSs) has been reported as one of the favorite activities for adolescents. Over the past decade, SNSs have become some of the most important venues for connecting, communicating, and socializing, as well as identity-building and self-expression. Adolescence is the phase during which individuals construct a critical part in the process of constructing their sexual identity and gender. In the literature, it is suggested that SNSs have become venues for young people to construct and express themselves, and this can produce positive and negative effects. SNSs offer several opportunities for adolescents to explore their sexuality, and cybersex is often the first activity through which teenagers can explore their sexuality freely and without biases. SNS use inevitably affects and is related to adolescents’ sexuality and relationships with peers, sometimes with increasing inclination to risk-taking attitudes and related behaviors. Therefore, our aim of this paper was to explore and address the way in which social media and SNSs are affecting and changing not only adolescent sexuality, but also the type of relationship adolescents establish in their first sexual experiences, including possible risky consequences like cyberbullying, sexting, revenge pornography, excessive use of the Internet, and risky sexual behaviors. Specifically, research will be discussed on the development and evolution of sexuality of adolescents and young adults, also illustrating the clinical consequences.

Discrimination, Parent-Adolescent Conflict, and Peer Intimacy: Examining Risk and Resilience in Mexican-Origin Youths' Adjustment Trajectories.

Peer discrimination and parent-adolescent conflict in early adolescence were examined as predictors of depressive symptoms and risky behaviors from early to late adolescence using four waves of data over an 8-year period from a sample of 246 Mexican-origin adolescents (MTime 1 age =12.55, SD=0.58; 51% female). The buffering effect of friendship intimacy and moderating role of adolescent gender were tested. Higher levels of discrimination and conflict in early adolescence were associated with higher initial levels of depressive symptoms and risky behaviors in early adolescence and stability through late adolescence. For females who reported higher than average discrimination, friendship intimacy had a protective effect on their depressive symptoms.

Young Adult Risk Factors for Cancer: Obesity, Inflammation, and Sociobehavioral Mechanisms

The paper assesses social disparities in the burdens of metabolic and inflammatory risks for cancer in the U.S. young adult population and examines psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms in such disparities. Using data of 7,889 individuals aged 12-32 years from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health from 1994 to 2009, generalized linear models were used to assess the sex, race/ethnicity, and SES differences in the risks of obesity and inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein. Further tests examined the extent to which social isolation, smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and illicit drug use explain social differentials in each biomarker outcome. Women, blacks, Hispanics, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups had higher risks of obesity and elevated C-reactive protein, with the SES gradients being more pronounced in female participants. Health-related behaviors showed large variation across sex, race, and SES strata. After adjusting for these behavioral variables, sex, and race disparities in obesity and excess inflammation in blacks diminished, whereas the adolescent SES disparity in obesity remained. The associations of adolescent and young adult SES disadvantage and inflammation were also explained by behavioral mechanisms. Behavioral factors associated with higher risks of obesity and inflammation differed, with the exception of fast food consumption, a risk factor for both. This study provides new knowledge of social distribution of early life exposures to physiologic precedents to cancer development later in life with implications for prevention and early intervention of modifiable risky behaviors in adolescents and young adults.

Reducing Adolescent Risky Behaviors in a High-Risk Context: The Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers in South Africa

South African adolescents living in poverty are at significant risk for negative outcomes associated with risky sexual activity and substance use. The South African government introduced the Child Support Grant (CSG) to reduce poverty and provide protection from these risks. We use variation in grant receipt by age to estimate potential effects of this unconditional cash transfer program on adolescent outcomes. The study findings suggest that the CSG may play an important role in reducing adolescent risky behaviors, particularly early sexual debut among females. The results also suggest that policy efforts to expand grant access to children up to adulthood and to reduce barriers to maintaining grant access for those living in poverty should improve outcomes for South African adolescents.

Problems of 14–18 Years Old Youth and the Trends of Organisation of Prevention Activities: Lithuanian Case

Abstract The World Health Organization (since 1998) recognises that many modern diseases and disorders (including social problems) are caused by risky behaviour. Youth risky behaviour is generally defined as a behaviour that directly or indirectly threatens the young person’s well-being and health. This is usually understood as smoking, abuse of alcohol and psychoactive substances and early initiated and unprotected sexual relations. However, the risky behaviour also includes basic things such as the failure to comply with diet regimen, sedentary lifestyle, not wearing the safety belt in the car and failure to wear a helmet whilst cycling or rollerblading. Adolescence itself is a risky span of the human life, as it is associated with moving from childhood into the adult world and intensive search for the personal identity. To ensure a consistent development of personality, adolescent risky behaviour prevention include harmonisation of education processes to help teenagers to develop responsible behaviour skills by reducing the risk factors and increasing protective factors. The article aims to overview the factors that influence youth risky behaviour and the factors that determine the planning and organisation of preventive activities for the pupils in the higher classes of the schools of general education. The study was completed in the form of a questionnaire that was conducted in the schools of the Lithuanian Republic in 2016. The results of the study describe trends of the prevention policies applied in the system of education, considering the national context of the individual Member States of the European Union.

An Analysis of Family Dynamics on High School Adolescent Risky Behaviors in Ghana

ABSTRACTThis study examined the relationship between family dynamics and student engagement in consumption of alcohol, smoking of cigarettes, and use of illicit drugs in Ghana, West Africa. Adolescents who reported that their parents consumed alcohol were more likely to do likewise. Parental consumption of alcohol increased the adolescent probability of doing the same irrespective of the gender. Adolescence is a formative period during which health risk behaviors may be learned and solidified. Policies and subsequent interventions to address health risk behaviors should not be limited to school setting. Parental engagement and monitoring outside of school significantly mediates the extent to which students engage in health risk behaviors.

The relationship between anxiety, depression and risk behaviors in adolescents.

Aim Adolescence is a developmental period often associated with high-risk behaviors. While some risk-taking behavior is considered normative in adolescents, research has indicated an association between risky behaviors and mental ill-health. The current research aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety and depression with the occurrence of high-risk behaviors in adolescents and also determine the predictive factors of these main variables. Methods A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design was used to collect data from 399 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 residing in Qazvin, Iran using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) and the Iranian Adolescents Risk-taking Scale (IARS) between the period of October and November 2015. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics powered by SPSS (v. 23). Results Mean scores for anxiety, depression and risky behaviors were 37.70 ± 21.11 and 80.76 ± 31.30, respectively. Participants' frequency of suicidal thoughts (β = 0.126, p < 0.05) positively predicted anxiety and depression, while age (β = -0.126, p < 0.01) and self-confidence (β = -0.307, p < 0.001) negatively predicted anxiety and depression. Moreover, having friends that smoke (β = 0.366, p < 0.001), suicidal thoughts (β = 0.127, p < 0.01), and the strength of suicidal thoughts (β = 0.100, p < 0.05) were positive predictors of occurrence of risky behaviors. Furthermore, religious belief (β = -0.204, p < 0.001) negatively predicted occurrence of risky behaviors in Iranian adolescents. Male respondents were more likely to have higher level of occurrence of risky behaviors than females (β = -0.193, p < 0.001). Conclusion Findings of the present study suggest that anxiety and depression positively and significantly predict the occurrence of risky behaviors in addition to having friends that smoke, suicidal thoughts, and strong suicidal thinking. The implications of these findings have relevance for screening, prevention, and treatment interventions targeting mental health in adolescents.

Adolescent Psychosocial Assessment: The HEEADSSS.

Adolescence should be a time of healthy growth and development. Indeed, it is a critical period with significant physical, emotional, and mental changes. Despite robust physical health, adolescent risky behaviors may result in lifelong consequences as well as increased morbidity and mortality. The HEEADSSS review of systems is a tool to understand adolescent behavior and assess risk-taking behaviors to provide appropriate interventions. Using the HEEADSSS review of systems is an effective way to engage in dialogue with teens and address many of the challenges faced by this age group. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(5), 24-27.].

College prospects and risky behavior among Mexican immigrant youth: The effects of in-state tuition policies on schooling and childbearing

This paper examines how a reduction in the cost of college for undocumented students affects college enrollment and adolescent risky behaviors. Prior to 2001, undocumented students in the United States faced high out-of-state tuition costs at public colleges and universities. From 2001 to 2014, twenty-one states passed in-state tuition policies, reducing the average cost of college by more than half for these students. To the extent that teens are forward-looking and aware that lower tuition increases the likelihood of attending college, this price reduction should decrease the incidence of risky behavior during adolescence among the undocumented. Exploiting the variation in timing of in-state tuition policies across states and using Mexican foreign-born non-citizenship as a proxy for undocumented status, I find that these policies increase college enrollment by about 1.2 percentage points (12% of the sample mean), decrease high school dropout incidence by about 5 percentage points for female youth (27% of the sample mean), and decrease the likelihood of first birth before age 20 by 2 percentage points (9% of the sample mean).

Association between risky behaviors in adolescents and altered psychophysiological emotional responses

Introducción. La psicofisiología de la respuesta emocional en la adolescencia es un factor clave en la comprensión de conductas de riesgo y desadaptación.Objetivo. Comparar especificidades de la reacción psicofisiológica emocional entre adolescentes con y sin conductas de riesgo.Materiales y métodos. Las medidas consistieron en la caracterización de conductas de riesgo (CR), variaciones en la frecuencia cardiaca (FC) electromiografía (EMG), conductancia de la piel (CP) y temperatura durante la presentación de estímulos emocionales visuales, así como la calificación en parámetros de valencia emocional, activación y dominancia de dichos estímulos.Resultados. Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los adolescentes con CR comparados con aquellos que no las presentaban: se detectaron signos de mayor reacción psicofisiológica a los estímulos emocionales.Conclusiones. El grupo control se caracterizó por una bradicardia inicial más expresiva en comparación con el grupo con CR, ambos grupos mostraron desaceleración cardíaca más pronunciada ante estímulos desagradables, niveles más altos en EMG ante estímulos agradables en el grupo con RB e indicadores más elevados de CP ante los tres tipos de estímulo. Se requiere un estudio de cohorte a fin de comparar los hallazgos actuales en CR frente a la reacción fisiológica emocional entre los grupos de adolescentes.

Association of video gaming with some risky behaviors of secondary school adolescents in Abha, Southwestern Saudi Arabia.

The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of video gaming among secondary school adolescents and to investigate their association with some risky behaviors. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 336 students randomly selected from secondary schools in Abha City, Saudi Arabia, during the academic year 2015-2016. A predesigned self-report questionnaire was used to assess students' sociodemographic data, pattern, motivators and drawbacks of video gaming, previous academic year grades, history of violent acts, road traffic accidents (RTA), and traffic rules violations. Weight and height were measured for every participant and the BMI was calculated. About 80% of students played video games and 76% owned a video game machine. The median onset of video gaming was 10 years. The most important motivator for video gaming was 'give a chance for fun and excitement' (93.7%), followed by 'give a chance to get rid of the boredom and leisure' (92.3%). The most frequently reported social drawbacks were interfering with sleep time (69%), physical activity (64%), and meal time (59%). BMI was not significantly associated with the pattern of video game playing (P>0.05). Academic performance was significantly lower among students who used to game in cybercafes (P=0.001). Prevalence of tobacco smoking and some risky behaviors such as traffic rule violations, significant RTA, and violence were encountered more significantly among those preferring race and drift games (P<0.05) and used to game in cybercafes (P<0.05). Video gaming among secondary school students in Abha, Saudi Arabia, is relatively high. Some risky behaviors such as smoking, violence, significant RTA, and violation of traffic rules were significantly associated with race and drift games and gaming in cybercafes. School-based educational programs for both adolescents and their parents should be provided to gain skills about effective time management, avoid over-gaming, risky games and gaming in cybercafes. Legal restriction on importing and selling risky video games should be considered by the government.

Association of video gaming with some risky behaviors of secondary school adolescents in Abha, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Association of video gaming with some risky behaviors of secondary school adolescents in Abha, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Associations Among Infant Iron Deficiency, Childhood Emotion and Attention Regulation, and Adolescent Problem Behaviors.

This study examined whether iron deficiency (ID) in infancy contributes to problem behaviors in adolescence through its influence on poor regulatory abilities in childhood. Chilean infants (N=1,116) were studied whenthere was no national program for iron fortification (1991-1996), resulting in high rates of ID (28%) and iron-deficiency anemia (IDA, 17%). Infants (54% male) were studied at childhood (Mage =10years) and adolescence (Mage =14years). IDA in infancy was related to excessive alcohol use and risky sexual behavior in adolescence through its effect on poor emotion regulation in childhood. Attentional control deficits at age 10 were also related to both infant IDA and heightened risk taking in adolescence. Findings elucidate how poor childhood regulatory abilities associated with infant IDA compromise adjustment in adolescence.

Bidirectional relationship between time preference and adolescent smoking and alcohol use: Evidence from longitudinal data

IntroductionScholarly interest in time preference as a potential predictor of risky health behaviors in adolescents has increased in recent years. However, most of the existing literature is limited due to the exclusive reliance on cross-sectional data, precluding the possibility of establishing the direction of causality. Using longitudinal data from the Korea Youth Panel Survey (2003–7), which followed up a nationally representative sample of 3449 adolescents aged 14years for five years, this study examines a bidirectional relationship between time preference and smoking and drinking behaviors among adolescents. MethodsWe used discrete time hazard models of smoking and drinking initiation as a function of time preference measured at the baseline and fixed-effects ordered logit model of time preference, respectively. Our measure of time preference was derived from the survey question on a hypothetical choice between immediate enjoyment today and likely higher scores on an exam tomorrow. ResultsThe overall results provide evidence on the bidirectional relationship; that is, higher time discounting (i.e., greater relative preference for present utility over future utility) results in an increased risk of engaging in smoking and drinking, and conversely, adopting such behaviors leads to a higher discount rate. ConclusionsThe bidirectional relationship may function as a mechanism for adolescents to engage in increased smoking and drinking or additional negative health behaviors via gateway effects, strengthening the case for preventing the initiation of risky health behaviors among adolescents.

Failure to retreat: Blunted sensitivity to negative feedback supports risky behavior in adolescents

Failure to retreat: Blunted sensitivity to negative feedback supports risky behavior in adolescents

Prospective cohort study of childhood behaviour problems and adolescent sexual risk-taking: gender matters.

In a population-based birth cohort [The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study], total, externalising and internalising behaviour problems (domain-specific T≥60) were calculated from parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist at ages 2, 5, 8, 10 and 14 years. At age 17 years, 1200 (49% male) participants reported sexual and substance use activity Results: For both genders, those with earlier externalising behaviour problems were more likely to be sexually active (oral sex or sexual intercourse) by age 17 years. Males with childhood externalising behaviour problems were more likely to have multiple sexual partners by age 17 years than those without such problems [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.49-5.86]. Females with childhood externalising behaviour problems were more likely to have had unwanted sex (aOR 1.91, 95% CI 1.04-3.53). Externalising behaviour problems were associated with substance use for both genders. No association was found between internalising behaviour problems and risky behaviour. Externalising behaviour problems from as early as 5 years old in boys and 8 years old in girls predict a range of risky sexual behaviour in adolescence, which has important implications for targeting interventions in adolescence.

Профилактика рискованного сексуального поведения посредством формирования психологической готовности к родительству

In the world there are tendencies of early entering into sexual relations and simultaneous withdrawal of the age of marriage, an increase in the number of early pregnancies and abortions among minors. Existing programs for the prevention of risky sexual behavior are ineffective, since they are one-time, narrowly focused. The author presents the results of an experiment on the prevention of risky sexual behavior in adolescents based on the formation of their ideas of parenting and child-parent relations, and through the prism of this topic, allowing to build an image of reproductive behavior in the present and future. The program is designed taking into account the psychology of modern adolescents, in accordance with the principles of awareness and responsibility, is based on a restorative approach and resource approach to the formation of psychological readiness for parenthood M.E. Lantsburg. The program for the development of psychological preparedness for parenting in adolescents has two targets: the nearest: preventing adolescent pregnancy and reducing its negative consequences in the event of an early pregnancy, and strategic - preparing for the planning and birth of the coveted child in the future. The results prove that the adolescents' views about the family depend both on the experiences they experienced in their own childhood and on the trends in the social and political space discussed in this topic. The study showed that adolescents' views on sexual relations, family and parenthood can be purposefully influenced through a program based on the knowledge of age-related psychology, resource and recovery approaches and using interactive methods of teaching relevant to this age group.